


Grounded

by laurarara



Category: His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Bad Weather, Daemons, F/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:14:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27529792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurarara/pseuds/laurarara
Summary: She looked him straight in the eye. “Do you count any witches amongst your conquests?”Lee gulped. “Can’t say I do.” A burst of courage possessed him. “No queens, either.”Serafina raised an eyebrow. “Of course, conquest isn’t a role that comes easily to a queen.”“You’d rather be a conqueror, I suppose.”“And it takes a certain kind of man to be willing to be conquered.”“I can’t say I’d mind it,” Lee returned.
Relationships: Serafina Pekkala/Lee Scoresby
Comments: 7
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Doing my own small part to swell the ranks of fic for the HDM fandom.
> 
> File this one under Fairly Long and Porny.
> 
> Set immediately after Lee's attendance at the witch council in The Subtle Knife, Chapter 2/ Season 2, Episode 1.

After the council ended, the witches dispersed quickly, swooping into the air like leaves caught in a breeze. Tucking Hester into his breast-pocket, Lee frowned at the darkening sky. Experience – the clouds, the winds, the almost imperceptible change of the light - told him there was a storm brewing, and he needed to calculate his chances of making it to a town or village where he could find shelter before the worst of it hit.

The wind rustled through the tall slim trees that swayed with increasing vigour. As Hester nestled into his chest, drawing and sharing warmth in equal measure, Lee concluded that to take to the skies now would be more reckless than he could justify. They could sleep in the balloon basket – it wouldn’t be the first storm they’d spent there, and this one would no doubt be far safer and more comfortable than those they’d spent in the air. But this was further North than he liked to sleep without the benefit of a solid roof, and an awkwardness was blossoming inside him from his ignorance of witch culture, his previous interactions with witches having largely been in the air, in battle, or in human settlements. Would sleeping in a balloon on their land cause them offence?

He turned toward the alcove where he’d stored the balloon, but halted when he heard a low, clear voice. “Mr Scoresby!”

He turned to see Serafina Pekkala walking in his direction, calm and sure-footed as the winds buffeted her hair and clothes. “Miss Pekkala,” he acknowledged her.

“Not a good night to be flying your balloon, I think. Our omens point to oncoming storms.”

Lee smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“You’ll stay with me, as my guest, I hope?”

Knowing little about the sleeping habits of witches, but assuming a reasonable chance of more comfort than the floor of his balloon’s gondola, Lee felt a burst of hope. “I’d be mighty grateful if that’s on offer, ma’am.”

Serafina gestured inland. “My home’s just up this path, a mile or so. Your balloon shouldn’t come to any harm where it is, sheltered by the cliffs. It’s chilly down there, but should escape the worst of it.”

Reassured, Lee fell into step beside her, walking side-by-side up a track that seemed hardly used. “A mile, you say?” Lee was curious. “Wouldn’t you normally fly?” He looked up into the skies, where he could still see some of the witches from the meeting hurrying home or on to further adventure.

“Usually, yes,” Serafina said lightly. “But it would be rude to leave a guest to walk alone, and I thought it might offend your dignity if I carried you.”

He laughed, eyeing her pale, slender arms. “I’m not usually one for dignity, ma’am, but on this occasion I think you’re probably right.”

The path rose steadily up the hill, and not for the first time, Lee was reminded of how much bigger the sky seemed to be around the Arctic than anywhere else he’d been. The Northern Lights flickered dimly above, partially obscured by the billowing clouds.

“This time tomorrow, you’ll be in another world,” he mused.

Serafina glanced at him, and followed his gaze up to the sky. “All being well.”

“It’s exciting, isn’t it? I mean, I know it’s serious and dangerous, but…another world.”

“Do you wish you were going too?”

Lee paused for a moment to think. “There’s a part of me, of course. That wants to feel the breeze of another world. But I’ve got to find Grumman. Protection for Lyra’s more important.”

“Maybe your journey will bring you to the other world, eventually. To bring the protection to her.” Serafina climbed effortlessly over a fallen tree that was strewn across the path, and stopped to pull back some of the larger branches to help Lee clamber over the trunk.

“Thank you kindly. I’ll go wherever I need to go to keep her safe. Really it depends on if I can find Grumman, and if I do, what he has to say about this object he knows about.”

“He sounds like an extraordinary man.” Tree successfully navigated, they continued up the steepening path, trees and rocks and streams filling their vision on both sides.

“Of course, your friend loved him.”

“Loves.”

“I never knew of a love that could turn murderous for not being returned.”

They were silent for a couple of minutes, walking fast over the rising land as the winds howled around them.

Serafina sighed. “Juta’s young, and angry, and her heart is broken.”

“Maybe witches love more fiercely than human women.”

“There’s no Mrs Scoresby?” Serafina looked at him curiously.

Lee chuckled. “No ma’am. There have been women. But never one I was willing to give up this life for – the travelling, the freedom, the adventures.”

“And never one that didn’t ask it of you.”

He nodded. “There was a time when I’d try. But sooner or later I’d be drawn to the open skies again.”

“I remember you telling me, not so very long ago, that it was just a job,” she observed.

“Ah, well, perhaps we weren’t such good friends then. I’m a gambler; I learned long ago not to reveal too much of myself before I know where I stand with someone.” He held out a hand, watching a raindrop splash into it. “The storm,” he said.

She grabbed his arm and they ran the final stretch of the path before stopping underneath a ledge of rock, breathless and already damp-haired. Serafina gestured through a gap in the rock. “It might not be what you expect,” she said. “Not what your human queens have, palaces and castles and so on.”

He followed her into the cave, curious. Was she self-conscious? It was a small cave, tall enough to stand in but only just. But it was warm, and sheltered from the elements. “I think you must have the wrong idea of me, Miss Pekkala, if you think I spend my time in palaces and castles.”

She turned back to him. “Really, Lee, you’re staying in my home. You say we’re friends. I think we can use each other’s first names.”

“Serafina,” Lee breathed, his voice cracking a little over the syllables. “This is very cosy for someone who doesn’t mind the cold.”

The front section of the cave was taken up by a roaring fire, with a gap at one side to allow passage in behind. The reflection of the flames danced in Serafina’s eyes as she carefully lifted the lid of a pot that was suspended over the fire. She shrugged. “Cold does me no harm. And I don’t mind feeling it when it enables me to feel the moon, the stars, the Aurora against my skin. But firelight is another sensation, and I like that too. Can you pass me a couple of bowls?”

Lee turned to one side and saw some shelves carved into the rock. He picked up two wooden bowls and held them out to her.

“And a fire can warn off predators, or act as a lighthouse for sisters in distress. And human visitors like it, of course.” She spooned a steaming stew into both bowls.

“Good for cooking, too. And spells, maybe,” Lee ventured, holding both bowls while Serafina returned the lid to the pot, then he followed her down the side of the cave, past the fire.

Back behind the fire, the floor was strewn with several layers of furs. They sat down on them, facing the flickering firelight, with a glimpse of trees, clouds and stars through the gap in the rocks. Lee took a deep drink from the bowl, pleased to find a hot and nutritious broth.

“This is a perfect shelter,” he offered.

“I’m not here too often,” Serafina admitted. “I spend most of my time elsewhere. But this is where I return to, when I can. It has everything I need.” The rain clattered down outside the cave.

Lee grinned. “It’s everything I’d need, too. I reckon I could live a witch’s life.”

“You sounded like a witch earlier, with your _open skies_.”

“Then I ruined it, I suppose, in not wanting to kill my unrequited loves.”

“Have you had many unrequited loves, Mr Scoresby?” The question sounded innocent, and looked it too, asked with wide eyes, but Lee felt instinctively that there was something sharper, more probing in there.

“First names, I thought.”

“Lee, then.”

“My fair share, Serafina,” Her name came out stronger this time. “I got over them.”

Serafina nodded. “We all do, eventually. But it takes time, and maybe a truer love to compare it with. If Juta’s lucky, she’ll live long enough to learn that a love that’s not returned isn’t really love at all. It’s something else – just as painful, but without the joy.”

Warmer, now, Hester crawled out of Lee’s coat and sat beside him, leaning against his leg. Lee touched her ear, comforted. “Love is particularly painful for you?”

“It’s the witch’s curse. To love, and to watch our loves grow old and die. To not be able to spend all our lives with them. Every time I love a man, I hope that Yambe-Akka shows mercy to me. I hope this is the one that outlives me, so my heart doesn’t shatter again. She hasn’t delivered me yet.”

Lee paused, not sure how to respond. Feeling the warmth of the fire, he slipped out of his coat. He was saved needing to provide an answer by a flash of wings as Serafina’s daemon entered the cave.

“Kaisa!” Serafina exclaimed, standing up to greet the graceful bird. He swooped towards her, perched on a ledge high up on the wall, and witch and daemon exchanged a few words quietly, before Kaisa wandered to the side of the cave. He looked damp and bedraggled, but a few moments by the fire appeared to be enough to dry off the worst of it.

Finishing his meal, Lee stood up too.

“Leave the bowl at the side there with mine,” Serafina advised. “I’ll wash them in the morning.”

“Is it hard, being apart?” Lee asked, almost shyly, nodding in Kaisa’s direction. A roar of thunder echoed around the cave.

“At first it was, many years ago. The initial absence. A separation – not a cut, like Bolvangar,” – they both shuddered – “But a kind of stretching of the bond. But now we know we’re not really apart. We’re still one, just over a greater distance. Kaisa feels what I feel, knows what I know.”

Lee watched Kaisa bend his head down towards Hester’s, his beak touching her ear, murmuring softly. Lee felt a rush of nervous excitement that he couldn’t quite place.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Serafina apologised. “The witch’s curse isn’t something that humans like to consider.”

“It’s okay,” Lee reassured her. “It must be a great privilege and a great pain, to feel so deeply. It made me think about my own heart. Maybe I’ve never really loved anyone at all.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” she smiled. Thunder crashed in the distance, and Serafina stood in front of the fire, tall and willowy and full of an undefined magic, looking like she was the storm, or it a part of her. She looked him straight in the eye. “Do you count any witches amongst your conquests?”

Lee gulped. “Can’t say I do.” A burst of courage possessed him. “No queens, either.”

Serafina raised an eyebrow. “Of course, _conquest_ isn’t a role that comes easily to a queen.”

“You’d rather be a conqueror, I suppose.”

“And it takes a certain kind of man to be willing to be conquered.”

“I can’t say I’d mind it,” Lee returned, and she flashed him a smile – a hint of teeth, glinting eyes – that made him feel delightfully like both hunter and prey. Almost without knowing what he was doing, he held out an open hand to her, and when she grabbed it, pulled her towards him.

Their hands clasped between them, he placed his other hand at her waist. She looked at him through lowered lashes. “Is this another one of your gambles?”

“No such thing as a certainty,” he mumbled, lowering his face so that his breath brushed her neck. “But – and it might just be the light in here – I think I can see a royal flush.”

She took a step back, head thrown back in a burst of laughter. He barely had time to miss her presence – only enough to dimly register that her laugh was one of the loveliest sounds he’d ever heard – before she was back in his arms, her hands on his chest, her lips pressed to his in a firm but sweet kiss. They pulled apart for a moment, looked at each other with shining eyes, before re-joining slowly, more thoroughly.

If Lee had ever imagined kissing Serafina ( _if_ reverberated around his head in Hester’s gently mocking tones), his imagination had focused on the differences between her and other women. Her queenliness, her witchiness. And true, there was something of both to the kiss, a brief and fleeting feeling of how he imagined it felt to be her – to step off a precipice and know one had the power to fly. 

But what thrilled him more was the living breathing humanity of the kiss. He’d been thinking about witches all wrong – Serafina wasn’t unhuman, she was simply more human than any human in the world. The wisp of her hair as it brushed against his forehead, the gentle scratch of her lightly chapped lips, the thrum of the pulse in her throat against his hand as he cupped her face.

He smiled against her lips, realising that he was just a man, kissing a woman. A beautiful, captivating, extraordinary woman, but a woman nonetheless, and he knew how to do this. He’d imagined himself at her mercy, but as he deepened the kiss, touching his tongue to hers, he felt a sense of being equals. That equality didn’t lessen her; it built him up.

He pulled her knee up towards his hip and leant back against a jutting rock that worked as a rudimental chair, pulling her with him. She was pressed up against him, their bodies lined up together, him supporting her weight, the kiss deep and passionate.

He pulled his lips from hers, stroked her hair, rested their foreheads against each other. “That was quite something.”

“Quite,” Serafina smiled, placing little kisses along his jawline. Her hand snaked down his front resting lightly above the growing bulge there.

“Serafina,” he breathed. “You’re sure?”

She took a couple of steps backward. Beautiful and graceful, backlit by the fire, she looked like some Magisterium-approved painting of a fallen angel, the kind of warning against sin that always made Lee want to try it. In a few swift movements she removed her clothes, the few slight scraps that witches wore to save the blushes of lesser beings, then stood before him entirely shameless. She was all long, slim lines and gentle curves, a lithe and undeniable sensuality that was most definitely _not_ Magisterium-approved. “I am as you see me,” she said, her voice low and ringing with sweet music. “I know what I want, and I think I’ve made myself clear.”

He pushed up from the rocky ledge, covering the few feet between them at an impressive pace, and embraced her, filling his rough hands with soft, cool skin. 

Mouthing down her neck, his hands moved up her rib cage, caressing the curves of her breasts, running thumbs gently over hardening nipples. She started tugging his jacket off his shoulders. “Why are you wearing so many layers?”

Lee snorted. “’Fraid I don’t have your tolerance of Arctic temperatures.” He removed his hands from her for a moment to shrug off the jacket, then as she started working on undoing the shirt that formed his next layer, he slid a hand between her thighs, ghosting a cool finger through the soft brown curls between her legs.

She made a high-pitched noise, parting her thighs slightly and pushing against his hand, her own hands gripping his arms as her mouth sought desperately for his.

He kissed her thoroughly, moving his hand against the soft wet heat of her, delighted by the touch of her flesh and those breathy, eager sounds that spilt out of her mouth between their kisses.

Serafina paused for a moment, as if to regain some composure, before leaning the length of her body against him. Feeling his arousal straining at the front of his trousers, she seemed pleased as he groaned through gritted teeth and moved to kiss her again. “Clothes,” she murmured, pressing a finger to his lips. “You need to take them off.”

He swallowed, watching her with his wide dark eyes.

She stepped away from him, deftly circumventing his grasping hands, and sat down regally – straight-backed, appraising smile – on the furs. Knees bent and feet planted firmly on the ground, she touched herself lightly, presenting him with an enticing, intimate view.

“Oh,” he mumbled, mouth dry. His clumsy fingers tugged at buttons and belts and zips as he struggled to remove his clothes as quickly as possible. “Hey, this fire stays lit all night, right? I don’t fancy freezing to death.”

Serafina smiled. “I won’t let you die,” she vowed.

“Much obliged,” was Lee’s retort, bowing his head lightly as he shimmied out of yet another layer, finally as bare as she was. “Not quite so impressive a reveal as your own, I’m afraid,” he grinned.

“There’s more than one way to impress,” she returned. 

A shaky laugh burst out of him as he rushed to join her on the soft, luxurious furs. He kneeled between her legs, leaning over her as she took his face in her hands, and their mouths met again, his inevitably drawn to hers, always returning, like a compass needle to the magnetic North.

Their bodies pressed together, hands exploring, mouths becoming more acquainted with each other’s techniques more by the second, Serafina placed her hands firmly on Lee’s shoulders and rolled over, so he was on his back and she was leaning over him.

The firelight shining behind her like a halo, she pressed forward, exposing a long pale neck that he immediately set to exploring with his mouth. His hands cupped her breasts, the soft weight of them falling satisfyingly into his grasp as she leant forward, and he squeezed them softly and rhythmically as he kissed her neck and collarbones.

Serafina leant back, pulling him into a sitting position as she sat astride him. His hands caressed the muscles of her back as she reached for his erection, the heavy heat of it straining in her hand as he whined, almost embarrassed, into her neck. With one hand stroking him firmly, the other tilted his chin up towards her, and she kissed him sweetly as she finally lowered herself on to his lap, sliding him inside her.

They gasped simultaneously at the pleasurable sensation of the way they fit together – him filling her, her engulfing him. Mouths open, eyes closed, faces flushed and sweating, they held that delightful position for a moment, before Serafina began to move her hips.

He threw back his head, exhaling deeply, before reaching for her breasts again and applying his mouth to work. Kissing, licking, sucking, he covered her chest with his mouth’s caresses, scraping teeth softly over a nipple to unleash a squeal of pleasure from the witch. “Lee,” she breathed shakily, and the intimacy of his name in her mouth and that ragged breath nearly made him see stars. In the corner of the cave, Lee heard Hester make a most undignified, un-Hester-like noise. He glanced over and saw a flurry of white feathers and a flash of grey fur.

Lee grabbed at Serafina’s hips as she started to ride him faster, making whatever movements he could from his sitting position to thrust up into her, to meet her gyrations. She leaned back, hands on his knees, lifting almost completely off him before sensuously sliding back down his length. 

He watched her, his eyes moving down her body, from the hair she pushed out of her flushed face impatiently, down her long neck and small breasts, covered with marks he’d left there, down her slim torso to the place where they were joined so pleasurably.

As she varied the speed and angle of her movements, as she leaned toward him again and allowed their mouths to return to their true purpose of desperate, messy, open-mouthed kisses, he thought fleetingly of the rowdy gossip of drunken fools in rowdy bars, places where men boasted of fucking witches, of being seduced by a magic that made them forget their wives, forget their manners, forget how much witches unnerved them. Those stories always gave witches just enough agency to be responsible for the infidelity, but ultimately reduced them to the pretty objects of those drunkards’ questionable sexual prowess. There in that cave, feeling like Serafina’s equal, feeling joined not just at the crotch but somewhere more fundamental, Lee found more evidence for his long-held belief that those stories were total bullshit.

He tugged at her hair, eagerly swallowing the whimper that resulted. He slid his hand back down between them, feeling a mad rush of impossibly increased arousal at the wetness that now spread across her upper thighs and the hair between them. Searching with a deft thumb, he found the small hard nub of her clitoris and circled it lightly. Her eyes opened wide and she ground down against him.

“Serafina, I,” Lee started to babble. “You’re incredible.” He kissed her shoulder. “Beautiful and powerful and, oh…” His left hand roamed up and down her side, feeling the shivers of pleasure that generated, and his right hand was still between them, thumb tapping rhythmically against her clitoris.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him so he was lying on his back. He bent his knees, feet flat on the floor behind her, giving him a solid platform to thrust his hips up towards hers. She rubbed and squeezed her breasts as she writhed above him, before leaning back over him, their torsos pressed together and her legs wide apart. He clutched at her hips and pulled her down onto him.

They climaxed together, riding it out with stuttering hips and desperate moans. Lee could feel them both pulsating as he came inside her, both breathily shuddering at the hot wet closeness of the situation.

Serafina rolled off him, and they both whined at the sensation of him slipping out of her. She lay beside him, pressed up against him, looking at his face hungrily. “I’m glad you decided to stay,” she told him, her voice raw and uneven, still recovering from the noises he’d drawn from her.

“Me too,” he told her, kissing her softly and pulling the furs up to cover them both. “I wish we had longer.”

Her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest they lay there, murmuring gently. Hester crossed the cave to curl up at Lee’s side, while Kaisa took up a perch just along from Serafina’s head.

Lee ran his fingers down the length of her spine and she wriggled, smiling.

“There’s always tomorrow,” she hinted, and he leaned over to kiss her softly, his heart racing at the images flashing thrillingly through his brain.

With the fire at their feet and the stars just visible behind, they slowly drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Lee woke slowly and naturally, blinking in the dim light of the cave. He was naked, curled on to one side, with Hester tucked into the crook of his arm. The still-burning fire provided a welcome warmth, but there was the hint of icy Arctic freshness in the air. He wrapped the furs more tightly around him, rubbing his face against Hester's ears.

One of his daemon's eyes squinted open. "I know you're awake, because I am," Lee muttered against her soft fur. "Did last night really happen?"

If a hare could raise an eyebrow, Hester would. Her cynical glance was a trademark move, and Lee felt a rush of loving familiarity. "You give your imagination far too much credit," Hester told him, "If you're even considering that it didn't."

Lee snorted a half-laugh. "Is she asleep?"

Rising on to her hind legs and stretching, Hester peered over Lee's shoulder and cast her eyes around the cave. "She's not here."

He rolled over on to his back, Hester clambering on to his chest. He ran a thoughtful hand across her fur. "Serafina?" he ventured, seeing a flutter of white feathers in the corner of the cave.

"Oh, you're awake!" came a voice. Lee sat up, Hester moving to his side, and through the flames of the fire he saw the witch's smiling face. "I had hoped to wake you with breakfast. Never mind, there's bread and fruit beside you, fresh-made and -picked today."

Lee shuffled across the furs towards the small pile of food he now saw, and tore a strip off a round flatbread. Tasting it, he sighed in satisfaction. It was warm, soft and flaky, lightly-flavoured with a delicate blend of wintry spices. "The bread's delicious," he said. "Did you make it?"

Serafina laughed softly. "Helga's work, I'm afraid. She lives just over the hill. I picked the fruit myself, though."

She walked round past the fire to join him, carrying a steaming cup in each hand, as Lee helped himself to a handful of mixed sweet and tart red and purple berries. His eyes widened. "You've been out like that?"

She looked down at her naked form and shrugged. "No-one but witches and animals for miles around. I think you're probably the first person to notice."

She handed him a cup and he drank deeply from it, finding it to be a hot tea that seemed to seep through his body, seeking any hint of cold and banishing it with a gentle warmth. Lee sighed again, enjoying the simple pleasures of this witch-lifestyle, and Serafina sat down next to him, sipping from her own cup. Cross-legged, her bare foot revealed a hint of frosty soil still clinging to the soil, and unthinkingly Lee dusted it off.

She grabbed his hand and he looked up at her, suddenly self-conscious but swiftly reassured by the brief sweep of her lips against his knuckles. He pressed a thumb against her mouth and she kissed it softly.

After a fleeting moment of eye contact that felt dangerously, thrillingly anbaric, they both returned their attention to breakfast, but both were increasingly conscious of their close proximity. They spent a few minutes in silence, focused on the meal.

"I sent a couple of witches to check on your balloon," Serafina said, wiping her mouth delicately. "It was buffeted by the storm but there doesn't appear to be any major damage. I've asked them to inspect it and carry out any necessary repairs."

Lee swallowed. "Thank you, that's very kind."

"You're our guest," she told him firmly. "We're also filling up your stocks of fuel, ballast and food. You've got a long journey ahead of you, and stops might be infrequent. And we're summoning a strong breeze."

He smiled at her, feeling more than ever the regal grace of her presence. "My hostess is generous beyond expectation," he began, overcome with stilted formality until he saw a glint in her eyes that made him feel like he was on fire. "I can hardly bear to leave," he finished, his voice wavering.

"Mr Scoresby," she smiled. "Lee - " she corrected herself before he could comment. "It's early yet, and your balloon is not yet ready for your journey. And I know my sisters do not plan to set off until much later in the day." With a single finger, she lifted his chin so that they were face-to-face, each half in darkness and half in flickering firelight. "Please, stay awhile."

Lee looked at her, eyes beginning to glaze with a growing hunger for more than food.

"I'm at your service," she told him in a low but clear voice. "As I said, you're our guest. If you could have one thing, what would you choose?"

He paused. " _You,_ " he choked out, his face beginning to redden.

She leaned forward so that they were even closer, and murmured, "Assume that you have me."

He launched himself at her, their mouths meeting hungrily as he pushed her back against the furs and pressed himself against her with more than a hint of desperation. He ended the kiss reluctantly, instead applying his enthusiasm and mouth to the crook of her neck.

Serafina squirmed in enjoyment. "One thing," she prompted.

"Peace in all the worlds," he mumbled, moving to the other side of her neck.

She entangled her fingers in his hair and tugged his head backwards. He gasped. "Something a little more practical," she suggested, allowing her hot breath to skate across his exposed throat, and delighting in the shiver it produced. "More tangible."

He paused, holding himself above her but not touching, and closed his eyes a moment. "A bath?" he tried.

He felt her lips press quickly to the bridge of his nose, and when he opened his eyes she was smiling. "Finally," she breathed.

"My queen," he said, allowing a hint of teasing into his voice as he ran a gently finger down the side of her rib cage. "Does your palace have a _tub_?"

She nodded. "Back of the cave, on the right. I'll join you."

He kissed her once, twice, a third time for luck, then reluctantly extricated himself from her arms and headed towards the back of the cave, Hester at his heels.

An overlap between two separate walls of the cave created a kind of doorway, not immediately obvious to anyone who wasn't looking for it, and after passing through it, he stopped in his tracks. A cave in the frozen Arctic was perhaps the last place he'd thought to find a pool of clean and steaming water, but now that he thought about it, it was exactly the place he wanted it.

"I don't know what you've done to deserve this, boy," Hester said, hopping around the edge of the pool to situate herself on a small rocky ledge. A larger ledge sat in the corner of the cave, and upon it was a small fire that illuminated the whole scene. "But you'd best enjoy it, as we'll probably be paying for it in bad luck forever."

Lee laughed and entered the bath enthusiastically, finding that the water, which was delightfully, invigoratingly hot, came up to his shoulders. He half-swam, half-walked his way across to Hester. He pushed his face against hers. "Have hope, Hester," he smiled. "For once in our life, let's enjoy something glorious without wondering what happens next."

Hester let out a small _hmmph._ "I don't remember _you_ failing to enjoy a single moment that contained anything possible to be enjoyed." But she pushed her nose against his, so he knew this was no real dispute, and he backed away to the middle of the pool. He bent his knees, allowing his head to submerge, feeling the grime of so much travel washing away.

When he emerged, skin reddened and hair slicked back by the warm water, he saw Serafina standing at the edge, a vision of beauty in the flickering light.

"Are you enjoying it?" she smiled, sitting down at the edge, dangling her feet in the bath as Kaisa fluttered over to share Hester's ledge. "This might be my favourite part of my home. It's fed by hot springs."

He made his way towards her, then placed his hands on the floor on either side of her thighs. Lifting himself out of the water so their faces were level, he kissed her. "It's perfect," he said, kissing her chin, her neck, her chest as she gently but teasingly ran her hands up and down his arms, knowing the position was untenable. He laughed a little, placed a quick kiss to her abdomen before giving up, re-submerging himself in the water.

She leant over him from her perch on the side of the pool, took his face in her hands and kissed him, long and slow and sweet. "I want you," she whispered.

A noise - part growl, part groan - came from Lee's throat as he lifted one of her long, slim legs out of the water and pressed his face against her inner thigh. He kissed it, allowing his moustache to brush against the delicate skin. She gasped, shifting forwards.

He kissed his way up her thigh, a little more impatient than he would have liked, his ravenous desire overcoming for a moment his wish to feel and taste every single part of her. He grabbed her hips, pulling her right to the edge of the pool, placed both of her legs over his shoulders, and pushed his face against her.

She was hot and wet, mirroring the lust demonstrated by his erection, which sat yearning and as yet untouched in the hot water. He licked her, his tongue exploring her slit, his hungry mouth kissing and licking and sucking as she writhed above him.

"Lee," she moaned, pushing herself against him. She was so receptive, so free from shame as he explored her.

He'd always enjoyed this, prided himself on his ability to talk a woman into bed and then continue to use his mouth to prove she'd made the right decision. With Serafina's thighs pressed against his ears, he felt once again how much _more_ she was than any woman he'd ever known. All his sensations were turned up to levels he hadn't known existed, as he used his probing hands to spread her outer lips, exposing her wet pink folds and the clitoris his fingers had encountered with such success the night before.

He pressed his mouth against her clit, sucking it enthusiastically as he slid a finger inside her. The noises coming from her mouth were incomprehensible as he used his tongue and lips and fingers to bring her closer to ecstasy. "I want you," she said again, this time no seductive whisper but a pleading whine, a sound that seemed to reverberate through both their bodies as he moaned against her.

His mouth moved against her, devouring the wet heat of her desire.

With a soft kiss, he reluctantly moved his face away from between her legs, sliding them off his shoulders. He paused for a moment to take in the sight of her - face flushed from pleasure and the steam of the water, hair mussed, legs spread wide and she couldn't keep still, grinding against the ledge she was sat upon.

He put his hand in her hair, pulled her face down towards his and kissed her, his tongue filling her mouth and sharing her taste with her. Their moans passed back and forth between them, their hands desperately grabbing wherever they could reach.

One arm around her waist, he pulled her forward so that she could slide into the water, and with his other hand he guided himself inside her. Their foreheads pressed together, they stayed still for just a moment, sharing breaths. Then, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and he pushed her up against the side of the pool and began to make love to her in earnest.

Overcome by a feral lust, a desperation that hadn't been there the night before - perhaps the knowledge that the next time may be far into the future, or never -, he pressed her against the rough rock wall as he skimmed his teeth against her throat, before getting to work sucking bruises into that pale skin.

Her fingernails scraped against his back, her legs tightened around him as they moved against each other. "Lee," she said again. "Lee," like all that was left in her mind was his name.

The water of the bath, disturbed by their movements, crashed against the rocks like ocean waves. Lee felt the water push against his back, seeming to encourage him to go deeper, harder. "Like being out in the storm," he muttered wildly, his breath ghosting across her ear.

And Serafina didn't question or wonder what he meant, only nodded and rolled her hips against him.

His hands groped at her breasts, no finesse at this moment, just grabbing probing squeezing fingers, and she threw her head back in pleasure.

Then he shifted her hips up, changing the angle slightly and pushing deeper into her. " _Lee_ ," she sighed, and he wondered if he'd ever get enough of his name in her mouth, the feeling it caused to shiver down his spine.

He kissed her softly, in contrast with a ferocious thrust of his hips, and then she was reaching her climax. Her eyes closed, her hands clinging to him, her legs shaking.

That did it for him - the way she fluttered uncontrollably around him, the sighs and moans and indescribable noises pulled from her lips, the way her body and the water seemed to flow effortlessly into one another. His hands at her hips, he came inside her, adding his own incoherent sounds to hers.

Her arms wrapped loosely around his head, she opened her eyes and pressed a kiss to his mouth.

"I liked that," she told him, her brazen calm prompting him to kiss her again as he pulled out of her.

They both groaned. "Serafina," he whispered, rolling her name around his mouth like fine wine. "What have you _done_ to me?" His voice was hoarse, his eyes dazed. "I think I'm ruined for anyone else."

She smiled. "I could say the same. Come on, let's use the bath for its actual purpose."

Lee grinned bashfully, and they both set about washing themselves, exchanging occasional glances of admiration and wonder and giddy good humour.

Finally clean, they reluctantly removed themselves from the steaming water and made their way back through the cave, allowing fresh air and the heat of the fire to make quick work of drying their skin and hair.

They sat down, returning to their unfinished breakfast, drinking each other in through their eyes. "When this is all over," Lee said, "Maybe you could bring Lyra here? I think she'd like to see how you live."

Serafina's mouth quirked up at one side in a gesture Lee was coming to know and love. "Not all the details, though."

Lee laughed shakily. "Absolutely not." She kissed his bare shoulder affectionately.

When it became clear that neither of them was capable of eating any more, Serafina began to clear away the leftovers and Lee started getting dressed. "I suppose I really will need to leave now," he said reluctantly.

She nodded. "I'll walk down to your balloon with you."

When they were both dressed, having shared a dozen more kisses and longing touches, and Lee had checked several times that he had all of his belongings, they stepped out into the fresh air.

The sky was clear following yesterday's storm, and the breeze that Serafina had promised was whistling through the trees. She took his hand and led him down the path towards the ocean, and the cove that sheltered his precious balloon. They walked slowly, knowing that each step brought them closer to parting, but daylight, gravity and some evident tidying by some infuriatingly helpful witches meant that the downhill journey seemed to take half the time of the previous night's trek up the hill.

"Wait," Lee said hurriedly as they reached the bottom of the path. "Before I go. I have to..." He ran a hand through his hair, distracted, and Hester looked at him in a way that said _you fool,_ loud and clear.

"What's wrong?" asked Serafina.

Lee took her hand, and knelt before her.

"Lee..."

"Serafina Pekkala. Witch-queen of Lake Enara," his voice shook, but he took a deep breath and continued. "You know that my goal is to protect and help Lyra, using whatever means possible. That is my priority, for as long as it's required of me."

"I know," Serafina told him softly.

"But here, kneeling before you, on the land you rule, I make this promise. If ever you need me, or ask something of me, I will help you. As long as it's not something that would hurt Lyra, or stop me from helping her, but I don't think you'd ask that -"

"- I'd never -"

"- because I know you care for her, just as I do. Maybe we should have been her parents." He reddened. "But I have to say it, just to be clear. With that one caveat, I pledge my allegiance to you."

She squeezed his hand. He kissed her fingers.

"What's more, I pledge myself to you. I need, and want, no other woman. All there is for me is you. So - asking nothing in return - I promise to be faithful."

"Lee," Serafina said. He looked up into her eyes and nodded, having said all he needed to. "Your allegiance, freely offered, I accept gratefully and return gladly. My priority is my clan, and the role we must play in the coming war. But what choices remain free to me, I will use in your favour if you ask it. I do not know where our travels will take us, or if we will be in a position to need and help each other. But my heart will be gladdened to know that if the time comes, we can rely upon each other."

She paused, considering how to go on.

"Your fidelity, I cannot accept." His head dropped, and she tilted his chin back up so that he was looking at her. "I would not have you bound to me by duty. You say you desire no other woman. But we have had one night -"

"- and a morning -"

"- and one morning. Love may grow in that time, or it may not. The only way to know what is between us is to wait, and see what it becomes. And even if love grows, all loves have their own duration, live and die according to their own timelines. If you met some other woman and desired her, I would not wish you to deprive yourself of a new love because of a promise you made to me, or to spoil that love with your guilt about breaking the promise."

"I wouldn't -"

"I've lived long enough to know that no amount of promises and obligations can make love last a moment longer than it will, and that an obligation is only a torment, once the love has gone."

He stood up and took her in his arms. "It will last. When we next meet, you'll see it in my eyes."

She touched his face. "I hope so. But, please...be free."

"I could never be anything else," he grinned, kissing her with such confidence and vigour that she couldn't help but smile against his lips.

Hand in hand, they kept walking, reaching the balloon soon after. It was in good condition, well-stocked, with new furs in the gondola in addition to the promised food, fuel and ballast, and the balloon inflated and ready to go, held down by a small group of witches with ropes. "Are you ready?" Serafina asked, as Lee and Hester clambered into the basket.

Lee nodded. "Got everything I need, a task and a plan or sorts. All I can do now is go where the wind takes me and hope for the best."

"Good luck," Serafina told him. "Remember, if you need me -"

Lee patted his pocket. "Don't worry, I won't be summoning you every time I get lonely."

They both laughed, and Serafina moved away as Lee checked the balloon instruments and then instructed the witches to release the ropes.

The balloon lurched into the air, caught in the wind the witches had summoned, and set a course eastwards. Lee waved at Serafina on the ground, watching her become smaller as he moved away. "Well, that was quite a night," he commented.

"- and morning -"

"Really something."

Hester snorted. "Something you've wanted since the day you met her," she said pointedly.

Lee rolled his eyes and took his position at the edge of the basket, eyes fixed upon the horizon. "Can't think about that now," he said with a tinge of regret. "We've got a mission. And when it's over, we'll...we'll come back and find her. See what happens."

On the ground, Serafina sat on a boulder, watching the balloon shrink into the distance. When it was little more than a speck, she began to gather a selection of detritus from the beach. Twigs, seaweed, little stones, a seagull feather. Methodically, she arranged them in a pattern that would be familiar to any witch of the North.

Kaisa looked at her work, assessing. "An offering to Yambe-Akka," he said, nudging a pebble into place with his beak.

"He could be the one," Serafina said. "The one that outlives me. I think I'd like that. Knowing I was leaving the world in his hands."

She looked up at the patch of sky where she'd last seen the balloon, already now too far away for her to see from where she was, her heart feeling full as it had done since the previous night.

Once the offering was completed, she scattered its components to the breeze, as tradition dictated would please Yambe-Akka. "Come, Kaisa," she said. "The day is no longer young, a new world is awaiting us, and we have work to do."

Witch and daemon leapt into the air.


End file.
